Do employers read facebook?

Next time you're about to whinge about your job or post something personal online, think twice, or rather, think.

Especially if among your online "friends" on Facebook you can count your employer, workmates or the friends of a blogger out on a rampage.

For employers and recruitment agencies, Facebook and Google can prove to be extra tools to give them extra information applicants' CVs do not give.

A survey commissioned by Microsoft showed online resources were increasingly being used by recruiters - 70 per cent in the US, 41 per cent in the UK, 16 per cent in Germany and 14 per cent in France- who said they had rejected candidates based on data found online.

Kay Galea, a human resources executive at Muovo, a recruitment firm, said: "Facebook is one of many networking tools we use to build relationships with potential candidates. In other words, we are not dependent on Facebook to find the right people but Facebook is simply one of many channels we use."

Another human resources executive at a major recruitment firm said the internet was a tool they used.

"However, nothing can replace a face-to-face interview as that is where soft skills come out the most," he said, adding that the impression they got online had never outweighed the results of the interview process.

A director at a small media house said she looked up candidates' online profiles when she received a CV "to get an idea who the person is and to check if we have any friends in common. If among their friends there's someone I know well, I'd ask for some more information about the person who applied to see whether they're trustworthy or not".

A major bank, however, has the exact opposite policy entrenched: To ensure everyone is on a level playing field, the internet is never used for reference because not everyone has an online presence.

An HR executive in another section of the bank said he had no idea what the software was and he never used it.

Posts on Facebook or Twitter could have a positive effect. A director at a media house said. "If I notice that one of my employees has written that he is bored at work, I will use this information and speak to the person to see what can be improved; an unhappy employee is also unproductive."

An HR executive at a financial services firm said she was Facebook friends with all the employees within the company and she used Facebook to check whether employees were online or not.

Ġorġ Mallia, a communications academic with an interest in online media, said: "Employers will want to find out as much as they can about the person they might be employing. In the past they used to ask for references but, of course, if there's another reference on that person, they are going to use it".

Tips

• Think before you post anything that might look bad. Statuses such as "I hate my boss/job/workmates" fall within this category.

• Change your privacy settings: On Facebook, go on the account settings tab on the right, then click through to privacy settings. There you can limit who sees pictures of you, links or status updates you post. You can also enable - or disable - your profile to turn up in Google searches.

• If you're not comfortable with your contacts to see it, don't post it at all.

• You can tweak your settings to let only certain people see your pictures and updates, or you could block other people.